New Here And Needing Some Thoughts

Decorating By squishymom Updated 5 Jan 2011 , 5:48pm by candicemarie

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squishymom Posted 3 Jan 2011 , 4:42pm
post #1 of 12

Hello Everyone

I am so happy I found this board
I am kinda a newby to cake decorating but have a huge desire to learn more and advance in just fun cake decorating
my grandma always made such wonderful cakes for every occasion. now that she is getting older she can no longer do them. she made cakes for us for almost 30 years and then past everything down to me. i guess that was the hint that i am now the new cake maker for the family.

I have gotten to be ok with the crusting icing and using the star tip to make cakes
but now i would like to take it to a new level.
my daughters 10th birthday is Wednesday and I want it to be special for her and make something using fondant. maybe some circles, stripes and bows on it. do you think all that is too much to start with.
i know i am very eager to learn and try and just wondered what everyone here thoughts are

11 replies
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imagenthatnj Posted 3 Jan 2011 , 4:54pm
post #2 of 12

There are some good tutorials here.

http://www.cakejournal.com/tutorials

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tiggy2 Posted 3 Jan 2011 , 5:10pm
post #3 of 12

There are also a lot of tutorials on youtube. Getting a bow made and dry by Wed. is pushing it.

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squishymom Posted 3 Jan 2011 , 5:31pm
post #4 of 12

thank-you imagenthatnj, i had not yet seen that section icon_smile.gif


WOW i did not realize it takes that long to let a bow dry - well i guess anything fondant

i just cut out some letters with the fondant and put them on star cut outs

we have a wood stove in the kitchen - think i should get that going to dry out the air lol

thank you for the inputs so far, they really do help

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Collette0725 Posted 4 Jan 2011 , 3:18am
post #5 of 12

I made a very large bow from gumpaste loops and it dried very quickly. Color and roll out gum paste. Cut into equal strips and wrap strips around a paper towel roll and pinch ends together. Make sure the end is about an inch long. Put roll in the refridgerator and it will harden in a hour. Position loops and use icing to adhere to top of cake

Fondant looks and sounds much more intimidating than it is. Bake and ice the cake normally. Make sure the cake is flat and level before icing. Knead food coloring with fondant (find at Michaels), use crisco if it gets dry, roll out with a rolling pin on a crisco greased surface and lay it over the cake. Trim with a knife and voilà!
Good luck!

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FullHouse Posted 4 Jan 2011 , 10:29pm
post #6 of 12

A loopy bow may feel dry but not yet be strong enough to assemble. It is best to give it at least 4-5 days drying time. I would suggest making a bow tie style bow, that can be made the same day you apply it to the cake. It is also much quicker/simpler to make. I have one in my photos http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1642750 if you need a visual. Tonedna has a tutorial for it on YouTube that is really easy to follow (my 8 year old watched her tutorial and proceeded to make a bow all on his own) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOTdwsbgDV8&feature=related. If you are using the bow within 24 hours of making it, either use a 50/50 mix of fondant & gum paste or knead some tylose powder into your fondant. If you don't have either on hand, it will still work, the gum paste or tylose just helps keep the shape better.

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Uniqueask Posted 4 Jan 2011 , 11:12pm
post #7 of 12

And if you are willing to spend some money, Sharon Zambito and Jen Dontz, are members here and they sell some exceptional cake decorating dvd's that teaches you all the techniques from scratch, www.sugaredproductions.com is Sharon's website, and www.sugardelites.com is Jen's her name is Jennifer but we all call her jen, they are two great sugar artists, also there is tonedna, she has a lot of youtube tutorials, and she also has some dvd's on sugar flowers, her site is www.designmeacake.com, I am no way afilliated with them I just have all of their dvd's and love them and they have thought me so much, check them out.

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squishymom Posted 5 Jan 2011 , 3:57pm
post #8 of 12

wow thanks everyone.

so far i am NOT happy with the cake.

i should have bought a cake lifter the other day at the store along with a cake leveler.

i was going to cover the cake in fondant, but got tired last night and didn't then tried to put the cake together icon_sad.gif its not going well so far)

thankfully my daughter never cares and is always happy and I always have her party with her friends to try this again in a week and a half

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FullHouse Posted 5 Jan 2011 , 4:25pm
post #9 of 12

If you don't have a cake lifter, you can use a cardboard cake circle or a very thin baking sheet in its place. Also, a large offset spatula or even a triangular cake server will help. Sorry its frustrating you, keep at it. Your daughter, I'm sure, will be thrilled no matter what.

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squishymom Posted 5 Jan 2011 , 4:36pm
post #10 of 12

icon_smile.gif thank -you

yes i think she will
i think its the colours that are not working for me right now and the fact that the cake is not centered. i had DH help me lift it with wide knives and he dropped to soon before i was happy with the placement

who knows. maybe i will try and get the fondant out and make the colours and tipsyness of the cake work for me icon_smile.gif

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FullHouse Posted 5 Jan 2011 , 4:39pm
post #11 of 12

Just remember to relax and have fun! I find the more relaxed I am the better my cake looks (wine really helps).

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candicemarie Posted 5 Jan 2011 , 5:48pm
post #12 of 12

if you freeze your cakes then they can be lifted by hand makes putting fondant on a lot easier.

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